Footwear manufacture



Oct. 9, 1934.

c. A. OSTLING El AL 1,976,365 FOOTWEAR MANUFACTURE Filed Dec. '15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Z 0M2 4.

ATTQRN Oct. 9, 1934. c OSTLING 5;- L 1,976,365

FOOTWEAR MANUFACTURE Filed Dec. 15, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l atented Oct. 9, 1934 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,976,365 FGOTWEAR MANUFACTURE Carl A. Ostling, New York, N. Y., and Frederick Zonino, Naugatuck, Conn, assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Goodyears India Rubber Glove llianufacturing Company, Naugatuck, Conn, a corporation of- Connecticut Application December 15,- 1931, Serial No. 581,090 1 Claim. (Cl. 12-142) In the manufacture of footwear from rubberin known processes involving the building of such ized cloth, it has been customary to employ an article of footwear by a single worker and the skilled shoe builders to build the footwear article disadvantages of proposed processes of building on a last, taking the various elements of the a cloth outer footwear article completely in the composite shoe from supplies thereof which are flat. It is, however, also applicable in the builddisposed around his bench and applying them ing of similarly constructed footwear articles one by one to the last. The building of an arhaving a rubber outer. The present process inticle in this manner requires a great many difvolves the progressive building up 01f a last, and ferent and difficult operations, and is thus not by a plurality of operators, of as much of a com- 1 only time-consuming, but expensive as it replete upper assembly as may be practicably apquires specially trained and highly skilled operplied to a last and then lasting the same over ators. Moreover an unskillful or careless operathe lining and associated parts which have been tion in one of the many operations required is previously applied and smoothly lasted over the quite likely to result in a faulty product which form.

must be sold as a second or thrown away as a This invention enables the above described pro- 70-. complete loss, cedure to be accomplished in a most economical Many of the disadvantages of the standard and efficient manner by teaching a series of steps procedure above outlined have been eliminated designed to enable a plurality of operators to each in the field of rubber footwear of various types perform one operation or a relatively few num- 0 such as boots, rubber gaiters, etc. by the use of ber of operations as the article is progressively 75. processes like those disclosed in the application carried past such an operator. Such operators of Carl A. Ostling, Serial No. 520,858, filed March need therefore be skilled only at one operation or 7, 1931, and the patent of Frederick Zonino, No. a relatively few number of them, thus enabling l,825,379, issued Sept 29, 1931, yet it may not be economies in labor costs to be eifected and at the desirable to practice such processes in connection same time obtaining better and more uniform 80 with the manufacture of footwear from cloth or craftsmanship. The finished footwear article is rubberized cloth in which there is no rubber base neater, smoother and better fitting than similar sheet upon which it is possible to construct comarticles made by known processes. ponent parts of the upper, and in which manu- Other objects andadvantages of the invention facture the cloth or rubberized cloth is most exwill more clearly appear when reference is had 85.

peditiously cut out into the desired sizes and to the accompanying drawings in which: shapes in large quantities from a plurality of su- Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view of the inperimposed sheets of fabric or rubberized fabric. strurnentalities by means of which the novel It has been suggested but not found desirable process may be most expeditiously carried out.

nor advantageous to build a complete upper as- Fig. 2 is a plan view of a quarter of an illus- 90 sembly including a lining, inner vamp, heel retrative type of cloth gaiter to which some of inforcement, etc. in flat form and then apply the the elements necessary to the finished article of same to a last, but the various thicknesses of the footwear have been applied. material so assembled make the assembly so Fig. 3 is a view of a pocket designed to be inbunglesome that it cannot be smoothly and tightcorporated in a cloth footwear article having a 95v ly lasted onto and around the form. When heel quarter like that illustrated in Fig. 2. reenforcements, counters, or other thick com- Fig. '4 is a'view of a quarter to which further ponent materials are used, such assemblies are component elements have been applied. rendered so stiff that it is impossible to last them Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 4 showing the manner to forms. This invention, however, enables the in which a pocket is incorporated into the as- 100 building up off a last of aconvenient part of the sembly.

complete upper assembly which may then be Fig. 6is a section along line 6--6 of Fig. 5. easily lasted over the lining and associated parts Fig. '7 is a view of a vamp suitable for incorporawhich have been previously united and lasted on tion into a footwear article like that described to the form. herein. 105

It is an object therefore of this invention to Fig. 8 is a view of the vamp when associated teach a process particularly adapted for making with agore member. composite footwear of cloth and rubber compris- Fig. 9 illustrates the manner in which the vamp ing a lining and an outer cloth upper assembly, is initially applied to a built-up quarter.

; which eliminates the manydisadvantages present Fig. 10 is a view of the vamp and quarter as- 11 3 f the rubberized side sembly at the completion of the next step of applying the vamp to the quarter in accordance with this process.

Fig. 11 is a view of the completed assembly with the vamp attached to the quarter.

Fig. 12 is a view of the lining construction applied to a last or jack.

Figs. 13 and 14 are views of the foot or sole portion of the last with parts applied thereto.

Fig. 15 is a section through a last upon which a complete article of footwear has been assembled, this View being taken along a line at the approximate plane 15-15 of Fig. 12.

For illustrative purposes the process will be described in relation to a rubberized cloth gaiter of the type which has a lining of cloth material such as fleece, and a pocketed opening into which the shoe clad foot may be readily inserted prior to buckling the flaps of the opening together. It should be understood, however, that the invention is applicable to other types of footwear constructed of cloth or rubberized cloth components.

The various cloth parts of a batch of gaiters (called a bracket) are died out from .a plurality of large sheets of the cloth material to be used, which is rubberized on one side. Any suitable material, such as jersey, may be used. The cutting may be done on a machine known as a Clicker and after the cutting-out operation the parts may be cemented in the usual way. The cut-out quarters 1a are first cemented on their bottom margins on the cloth side, and are serviced to a table A (Fig. 1) where operator No. 1 puts buckle stays 2a of frictioned fabric along the side edges of of the quarter, and places the quarter on a conveyor B which may be in the form of a belt like that shown in the application of Zonino, Serial No. 520,858. The manner in which the stays, which are merely strengthening elements to take the pull of the buckles, are applied is shown in Fig. 2. The conveyor, which of course has been started at the beginning of the building operation, now moves the partly assembled quarter in a position in front of operator No. 2 who places buckle straps 3a over the stays 2a and folds the left pocket 4a as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The straps and pocket are obtained by the operator from a table or shelf C adjacent the conveyor, preferably constructed over one side of the same. The pocket 4a is not folded so that the cemented edges 5a on the fabric side come in contact with one another but only sufiiciently to leave a crease to serve as a guide during its subsequent application to the other parts of the assembly. The pocket may be of any desired material, for instance black sheeting calendered with rubber on one side-the side opposite to that on which the cement is applied. Operator No. 2 folds the pocket and drops it on the conveyor alongside the partly assembled quarter so that it may be accessible to a subsequent operator for association into the assembly.

The above described parts are now carried in front of operator No. 3 who performs a further building operation as by putting four buckles 6a on the straps on one side and placing the edging element or cord 7a-along the gum side of the top edge of the quarter, as indicated in Fig. 4. The cord may be conveniently constructed of a ribbon of friction material tLu'ned about an ordinary cord or string. The buckles and cord are taken by operator No. 3 from the adjacent surface of the table C where a supply thereof is kept at hand.

Operator No. 4 now performs further operations on the partly assembled upper as it passes him on the conveyor. For instance he may apply the other four complementary buckle elements to the straps and pick the right pocket from the table and fold the same as indicated in Fig. 3, and then place it alongside the partly completed assembly. As above indicated the component parts used by operator No. 4 are disposed within easy reach of him on the table 0.

The next operator, No. 5, may be delegated to place finishing strips or cords 8a along the edges of the stays 2a at each side edge of the quarter as indicated in Figs. e and 5, and to place one of the pockets, say the left one, in position on the quarter in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This is done by placing the partly folded pocket inwardly of the edge of the quarter with its calen dered side adjacent to the coated side of the quarter 1a. The rubber surface of the quarter and pocket are thus contacted with each other at 9a, see Fig. 6. Operator N o. 5 may also conveniently take the gore piece 10a from the table and place it on the conveyor.

At the next station operator No. 6 takes the vamp 11a from the table and inserts the gore 10a in it so that the edge of the rubber coated side of the vamp is adhered to the cemented areas 12a on the fabric side of the gore and aligned along the edge or edges of the gore as shown in Fig. 8, the vamp being spread apart along the line 13a (Fig. 7) in order to accomplish this step. The vamp and gore are made of the same rubberized fabric as the quarter. The operator rolls the joint and turns the piece over so that its rubber coated side is down. He also takes the right pocket from the table and applies it to the right side of the quarter in the same manner described in connection with the left pocket. It should be understood that the figures are views of the inside or rubber side of the quarter looking from the front and that therefore what appears as the side of the footwear article.

The next operator, No. 7, folds the ends of the cords which extend beyond the width of the top drawings is in reality the left I of the quarter over the folded pockets so that the cord is against the calendar coated side of the pocket, and joins the left side of the vamp to the quarter shown in Fig. 9, the edge of the vamp being laid coincident with the edge of the quarter. He then opens the quarter, over to the right as indicated in Fig. 10 so that the partly completed assembly will not stick together and is conveniently positioned for the next operator, N o. 8.

This operator joins the right side of the vamp to the quarter and right hand pocket as shown in Fig. 11 to close the upper, rolls down the joint along the stay 2a and places the closed assembly on the spoke of a wheel D disposed over the conveyor. This is necessary in order to keep the tacky inside surfaces of the gaiter from sticking together.

Operator No. 9 takes the assembly from the wheel and places a fiat form therein inorder to prevent the inner surfaces from sticking together. This operator may also be delegated to inspect the product, trim the edges Where necessary and to count and record the assemblies as they pass him. i

Operator No. 9 also inserts the finished quarter with forms between two sponge rubber pads of a pressing machine. The machine presses vamp eliminating leaks around buckle straps. This completes the operation of assembling the that is, folds the vamp upper, and the building of the lining, its application to a last and the application of the upper thereto, as well as the finishing operations in making the complete gaiter, will now be described.

The building operation now moves on to a lasting conveyor E which may consist of a plurality of continuously conveyed lasts F disposed on carriers which are carried past operators stationed at points 10-29 inclusive. Preferably the upper assembly hereinbefore described is conveniently placed on the support or carrier for each last where it is accessible to an operator further down the line, but a tray may be provided on the carrier in order to more expeditiously support assemblies.

At station 10 the operator places a last on the carrier or jack and lasts a lining assembly thereover. This assembly may conveniently comprise a leg lining 15a. and a toe lining 16a (Fig. 12). At the next station the operator, No. 11, performs a component part of the building operation as by placing an insole 170. over the sole portion of the last and lasting and rolling the heel portion of the lining thereover as indicated in Fig. 13. No. 12 may be delegated to turn the toe portions over the last and roll them smoothly around the last and over the insole while No. 13 straps the upper edge of the lining on the leg of the last with strap piece 18a and takes a back strip 19a from a source of supply within easy reach and applies it to the seam up the back of the lining. The back strip may be of any desired material but is preferably calendered sheeting, uncured, which adheres firmly to the adjacent side edges of the lining which has been cemented therealong. Operator No. 13 also rolls the joint with the usual hand rolling device. No. 14 may conveniently take a binding or filling sole 200. (Fig. 14) from a source of supply arranged within convenient reach, place the same over the insole and roll it down. From a convenient source of supply operator No. 15 takes an inner vamp 21a, preferably a frictioned piece of fabric, designed to reinforce that portion of the lining with a leg and toe parts joined above the instep and places the same in position on the lining. Nos. 16 and 1'? place heel reinforcements 22a and 23a on the lining assembly and roll the heel and back and cement the assembly at the areas at which it is desired to have the upper assembly adhere thereto.

At this point the outer upper assembly is ready to be applied to the partly assembled shoe and as the application of this assembly is a rather difiicult operation it is most conveniently accomplished by having operator No. 18 take the last off the jack and set it up on a bench adjacent his station along the line of travel of the lasting conveyor. This operator takes the outer assembly and pulls it over the last and then puts the last back in the jack or carrier. The next operators 19-23 inclusive set the front and back of the outer upper assembly, finish the sides, roll the front and back and buckle the quarter in place. The article is now lasted on the form as generally indicated in the sectional view of Fig. 15.

Operator No. 24. may be instructed to take the toe foxing from a supply and place the same around the toe of the shoe and at the same time trim the projecting edges of the various parts of the upper and roll the foxing in place. No. 25 performs a like operation on the heel, applying a heel foxing around the heel of the shoe. No. 26 rolls the heel foxing and stitches the side seams, that is runs a knurled roller along the side seam. No. 27 stitches the foxing in a similar manner and No. 2-8 places a gum toe cap over the toe of the shoe and rolls the same. No. 29 takes an outsole from a supply and places the same on the bottom of the shoe and then applies cement along the edge in order to make a tight joint.

The shoe is now substantially completed and the lasts are taken from the conveyor and each shoe successively run through a pressing machine designed to press the sole tightly against the bind or filler sole and rubber toe and heel faxing. After this operation the shoe maybe passed through a device designed to further secure a tight joint between the sole and the inner portions of the shoe as by rolling the sole from front to back. This operation may of course be accomplished on a table by means of the hand roller. The shoes are now finished and ready for transportation into a vulcanizer where they are vulcanized in the usual manner, after which the l assembling on the lining on said last a previously assembled upper comprising a quarter and subsidiary quarter elements so joined as to form an outer gaiter upper with a front pocket, and completing the gaiter assemblage while continuing the movement of said last.

CARL A. OSTLING. FREDERICK ZONINO. 

